Ben Sheaffer knows where he was in 1997, when Rainier last made the state boys basketball tournament. He was a freshman in college, one year removed from leading North Beach to State B in Spokane.
His Rainier Mountaineers, though? None of them had been born yet. They’ve only heard what the big dance in the Lilac City is like from their elders.
“Just how Spokane embraces the small school,” Sheaffer said, when asked what he remembered most about State B. “When I heard some buzz about possibly moving the B tournament elsewhere, it really bummed me out. So I’m glad it’s still there.”
Spokane is still there waiting, and the Mountaineers are closer than they’ve been in decades. Downing Onalaska 66-50 on Friday in Chehalis, Rainier clinched District 4’s final bid to the State tournament — its first spot in the dance since that ‘97 season. The Mountaineers, who will face Napavine on Saturday in the district third-place game, will probably have to win a regional round matchup to make it to Spokane. But they’re closer than they’ve been in a high schooler’s lifetime.
“It feels good, and it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Sheaffer said. “That was an intense game, but we made enough plays in the second half to win. I feel good for the kids that have continued to grind. They’ve been through a lot of adversity this season.”
The Mountaineers went through their share of adversity Friday as well. Onalaska hung around close enough to keep things interesting in the first half, closing the halftime deficit to just two points thanks to a technical foul whistled against Rainier with five seconds left. That all changed in a third quarter that saw the Mountaineers hold the Loggers without a field goal for over a minute, pulling things out to a 19-point game on the back of a 21-4 run.
But just when Rainier fans started thinking about getting comfortable, Onalaska — which had won a combined five league games in the past two seasons — pulled out one last run.
“That’s just how much those guys cared, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” first-year Ony coach Fred Sturza said. “Because there were a few people, even within our own community that didn’t think we were going to do much. I thought we played well.”
The Loggers did it with their trademark physical style, turning things chippy and riding the momentum shift to a 9-0 run that got the deficit back to single digits with just over three minutes left — and forced Rainier starter Hunter Howell to the bench with his fifth foul.
“The environment was cool, the intensity was outstanding,” Sheaffer said. “We’ve got to maintain our composure. I think we have room to grow in that regard in terms of staying poised and moving on to the next play. But we competed, and that’s something we’ve always done.”
But from that point on, Rainier settled things down, going 10 for 12 from the line down the stretch to seal it.
Josh Meldrum finished with a game-high 22 points, including going 11 for 14 from the stripe, and also had five steals. Howell pitched in 14 points and Jacob Meldrum added 13, while Peyton Sheaffer logged eight rebounds.
Blaze Underhill and Justin Jacoby both put up 13 points to share the team lead for the Loggers, who saw their season finish with an 11-14 record after making their first trip to the district tournament since 2022.
“Our goal at the start was [to] make District, because we haven’t been,” Sturza said. “Let’s get that experience, and let’s make a splash. … I felt like we accomplished that.”
Rainier, meanwhile, will get one last district game with its State bid already secured, before joining the dance next weekend with a spot in Spokane on the line.
“I feel really good for the kids and the community to be rewarded for the hard work and perseverance,” Sheaffer said.
